Abracadabra
by Coriandergirl
Summary: Abracadabra. Maybe it is just gibberish. Maybe it is actually a secret spell. One that will eventually make a certain know-it-all realize there is more to life than just knowlegde and winning. There can also be love. HGSS in time
1. Le prologue

_A/N: This just started out as a quick scribble of some random ideas in my head. You know how most people have plot bunnies? Well, I have plot mice. They multiply at a much faster rate, and they die much quicker, too. Luckily for you who actually like my stories (if you even exist) fanfiction is sort of like my magic vet. Every time I come here, I get inspired to work some more on one of my -cough-many-cough, cough– stories. My biggest problem is converting what I have written down on paper onto the computer, because I hate to see how bad my first drafts typically are. To reward myself for having just sat down and typed out the first two sections of my story, I am going to post them online. Please– feed my pet mouse (don't worry, it doesn't bite)–leave a review. Oh, and if you're gonna flame me, at least make the insults funny, ok? While I personally can't pull off the whole sarcastic, cynical, acerbic thing, I find it funny to read (which is why I love Severus so damn much)_

_So yeah, READ!! (and review, if you want to, but mostly just R E A D!)_

_P.S.: I am not Rowling. I do not own these characters or the world they live in. But I do own my imagination. I think...Oh NO! I stole this imagination from someone else! How could I do such a thing? I am a horrible person! AAAAAH!!..._

_Anywhoo..._

PROLOGUE

"...What's your problem, Ron? Have you just given up on Harry? Are you just going to roll over and let Voldemort– oh stop it already, it's just a name! Honestly, I should think you'd be over that by_ now_, you never've even had to meet the monster! He's tried to kill Harry personally dozens of times and he can say his name without falling into a coma. You can't even bear to hear someone else say it, let alone yourself! Why can't you grow a back-bone already?"

"Oh, you think I'm a coward, do you? You think Harry is just _so_ much braver and famous-er and powerful-er and handsomer and...and...and.._whatever_-er than me, well why don't you just go and bloody marry him already?"

"Maybe I will! It isn't as though we really needed you around in order to do anything! In fact, we might even make more progress without you!"

"Ooooh, and now the real feelings are coming out! I should have known. I would never be good enough for you, miss I'm-just-such-a-perfect-little-know-it-all-I-could-just-die! Well, if that's how you feel, then...then..." (Searching wildly for a suitable comeback) "ABRACADABRA!"

As Ron bellowed the word he'd formerly assumed was merely Muggle gibberish, Hermione disappeared, and in the place where she had been standing, millions of iridescent bubbles were pouring out from some unseen, unknown, unheard of _somewhere_.

A full ten minutes later, a shell-shocked Ron finally realized, as the last bubble popped its sticky splatter all over his once-clean robes, that maybe this was not just a very strange comeback on Hermione's account, but in fact a very bad mistake.


	2. Observations

_A/N: snicker. I just realized that my note on the last chapter was almost as long(if not longer) than the prelude itself. Ah, well. That's what I get for being chatty...I end up looking ridiculous. But not this time. Have fun with this chapter. Maybe I'll even write another one some time this century. We'll see.._

_P.S.: Good news is, after a long, hard legal battle, I have won primary custody over my imagination (it has to go visit that other person on weekends and tuesdays). Bad news is, I am still not JK, and so have no claim to the characters or their setting, etc._

_P.P.S.:Secret surprise inside for anyone who figures out how the curse works before I do! (just kidding, I already know what the curse does...mostly...)_

CHAPTER THE FIRST

_Yikes. Ron may be one of my best friends, but that doesn't mean I have to put up with his pathetic whining. Okay, so maybe that isn't a good enough reason to say such things to him, but honestly, it was 2:00 AM in the morning just after the day Hogwarts had officially been closed down. I was in no mood for complaints and pessimism, especially not at such an hour. Has the boy no sense? I understand that he is scared (who isn't?), and I love him dearly, (not like _that_, like a brother, for merlin's sake!), but I'm not his bloody therapist. So, yeah, I sort of attacked him, but he still should have known better than to wake me in order to talk about that sort of thing!_

Switching alternatively between guilty excuses and righteous anger, Hermione waited for the return of her senses. The spell Ron had unwittingly cast was one of the lesser known Great Spells. At one time, it had been so well known that knowledge of it had spread even to the Muggles. Sadly, in present days it was almost completely forgotten in wizarding society, and just another part of the ridiculous Muggles magic lore. Hermione, however, knew that _Abracadabra_ was not actually some made-up Muggle gibberish, but in fact an ancient, powerful curse. In one of the older versions of Hogwarts: A History she had read, there was a short note on how it was speculated that Salazar had never actually left the school, but that he had been "removed frome thither acquiantanse bye the utteranse of none other than that most horride and unnowne curse: _Abracadabra_." Of course, the book had listed no actual information about the intriguing curse. Even the nastiest, oldest, dustiest, darkest tomes of the extensive Hogwarts library didn't so much as mention the curse in passing. Despite the as-yet-unyielding results, Hermione had never given up on her search for knowledge. The curse _had _to exist. After all, if Hogwarts: A History mentioned it, it must be real.

While Hermione had admittedly been recently preoccupied with slightly more crucial events (such as the death of her headmaster, the betrayal of a trusted icon, and the triumph of a particular evil sycophant), she had not forgotten about the appealing mystery of the lost curse. So when Ron, in a fit of combined fear, depression, self-doubt, and embarrassed anger had hurled what he thought was only a Muggle pretend word, her first reaction had been a sort of detached interest in finally finding out what the curse actually did. (Although one could argue that her very first thought had been _Why do boys always cast curses they don't understand in their fits of rage? Wankers._ But, that's besides the point.) As she waited for the curse to finish imposing itself and fully activate, she employed her half-forgotten skills of qualitative/quantitative observation-taking from primary school science in order to document her experience for future generations.

"_At first contact with the curse, there can be heard a loud, rushing sound, replaced rather quickly with an absolute silence broken only by the victim's thoughts. As hearing is lost, so too are the senses of sight, taste, smell, and feeling. The victim remains in this state of suspended awareness for–" Well, actually, I'm not sure how long it will last. I think I've already been like this for at least ten minutes now. Surely this isn't it? I'm not going to be stuck in this state of almost-nothingness forever, am I? Oh, I'd rather spend the rest of my life with Professor Snape. At least then I would have some _conversation.

The second Hermione internally voiced this sentiment, before her mind could even move on to just what she would do and say that bastard-Death Eater-traitor, everything changed. Color, light, sound, smells, and texture of all types assaulted her senses. She had an intense sensation of spinning round and round, faster and faster before–

She stopped.


	3. Surprises

_A/N: Hey, Y'all! When I got home today and saw that 4 people put this story on their alerts and another person wrote me my very first review for this story (thanks a million, notwritten, you made my day!) I felt so inspired, I fired off another two– yes, you read that right, TWO– chapters for your reading disposal. (Take that, procrastination!) I always thought those other authors who said reviews sparked their creativity and willingness to write were just saying it. Now, I see the error of my ways._

_Enjoy! (I know I did)_

_P.S.: I am scheduled to have a serious thumb-war with JK over who gets to keep ownership of the rights to everything HP sometime in the next century. Until then, however, you're just going to have to bear with me telling you that I don't own either these characters or their setting. _

_P.P.S.: challenge from first chapter Author note still open. Even if you think it is really obvious, I still want to offer my congrats for effort! (I am working on a suitable prize...)_

CHAPTER THE SECOND

Despite the fact that witches and wizards live in a world that is constantly changing and it is commonplace for the unusual, the unexpected, the impossible to occur over breakfast without so much as the blinking of an eye, they still manage to be surprised quite frequently. Even those whose very lives consist of nothing but the continual succession of extraordinary and outstanding events are very easily astonished. _No matter how prepared you might think you are for something magical to happen,_ Severus thought, looking at the particularly unsettling sight before him,_ something always manages to upset your former sense of security._

Ever since the first day of his attendance at Hogwarts, Severus Snape had gravitated toward the library. Coming from a life where it was a special occurrence if he scrounged a newspaper to hoard away in his room and read, the mere fact that not only was there a whole room of books in one place, but that anyone was allowed to read them had utterly awed the first-year to the bottom of his soul. While he was older now, and more worldly in his knowledge, he still experienced a sense of respectful reverence each time he entered the library. Over the last six years of his attendance at Hogwarts, severus had spent hours upon hours of time amongst the vast shelves, unearthing many new secrets along his way. Up until just a few short minutes beforehand, he had been laboring under the impression that the library had nothing new to give him, and that he had finally reached the bottom of the trick bag.

However, now he was much less certain. Moments ago, he had been quietly rereading an old stand-by favorite, as a celebration of yet another summer's coming to a close without his death when the air around him had become very cold, and an unnatural wind (as if there could be such a thing as a natural wind in a library!) had whistled past his body, riffling the pages of his book. Suspecting yet another prank by one of his Gryffindor year-mates, Severus had instantly dropped into a defensive crouch, protecting his rear with the bookcase and his fore with his wand. Glaring up and down the narrow corridor created by the closely-spaced bookcases, he mentally reviewed the dueling tips Lucious Malfoy had drilled into his head last year.

_Don't freeze up: keep focused on what is happening and where. Just because you don't see something, don't relax;just because you see nothing doesn't mean it isn't there–invisibility spells weren't just created yesterday, you know. Keep all sides covered; there is no 'fair' in duelling, especially with Slytherins and those who hold a grudge. Always have a few hexes and defensive curses on mind: you do not want to be searching last minute for a spell. Most importantly: ALWAYS have your wand with you. The single most idiotic mistake you can make is to forget your wand and get attacked without suitable means of counterattack._

Instead of being assaulted with the less-than-friendly presences of Potter or his lackeys, a girl approximately his own age had appeared directly before him. The witch (he assumed she _must_ be a witch if she could suddenly just appear in the Hogwarts library) started out with the details of her person very muzzy, as if someone were adjusting the lenses of a camera until she came into focus. Once she had completely amassed her being, she had opened her eyes, moving them until their surprised gaze had met Severus's suspicious one, before a look of dawning comprehension had come over her expression. Letting no sound escape her lips except a horrified, "Oh, _no_!" she had turned around and fled for the far end of the corridor. But, before she even got half way down, Severus had experienced a sharp pain in his chest, and she had dropped to the floor, completely unconscious, where she remained now, though it had taken at least three minutes for Severus to recover from his shock.

Finally easing up out of his defensive crouch against the bookcase, Severus nervously drew nearer to the prone figure, drawing in breath in case he would suddenly need to defend himself against the stranger. While he knew that apparition into Hogwarts was impossible, and none could enter without the headmaster's consent, Severus was also fully aware that he has not exactly at the top of Dumbledore's _People I Like_ list, and that many of the old man's friends would love an excuse to hurt a Slytherin, especially one so decidedly untrustworthy. Also, he had seen the girl's immediate reaction of horror at seeing his face, and was willing to bet that she harbored no feelings of particular good will toward him. Which was interesting, considering he had never seen her before that he could remember. Watching her body for any sudden movements, Severus nudged her limp arm with the toe of his shoe (when she had collapsed, she had fallen backwards, with her arms splayed out from her body) and quickly jumped back, cautious of any motion she might make.

When Severus was finally sure that nothing was going to happen and that really wasn't some sort of ruse to get him to come closer in order to choke him, he relaxed. _Okay, so she isn't going to try and kill me (yet). Now, why is she here? And, how did she even _get_ here in the first place?What happened just now? Is she going to be alright? Maybe I should just take her to Madam Pomfrey– just in case. How am I going to explain this?_

Coming to a conclusion that, despite the suspicious circumstances surrounding the matter (did I mention the fact that Severus was in the restricted section after curfew with an unconscious body?), Severus decided that he would do the right thing, and take the girl to the hospital wing. _After all, they will probably be so happy that she-whoever she is–is still alive that they won't even notice that I'm breaking the rules. And if they _do_, well, I can always point out that if I hadn't been here when I was, she might not have been found until it was too late._

Smirking at his very Slytherin way of thinking, Severus levitated the girl, and headed off to Pomfrey's domain.


	4. More Observations and a shock

_A/N: I don't know whether I am going to keep swapping back and forth between POVs or not yet, so just bear with me. I am pretty sure that you will be hearing at least some of this story through Severus's eyes, I am just not completely decided on how much yet. But you needn't worry yourselves about that sort of trivial thing, you're here for the reading! _

_P.S.:Apparently, JK heard of my extensive winning streak when it comes to thumb wars and so has cancelled on the match. (something about pacifying the fans being more dangerous than she had thought) So, no, I still don't have legal custody of these characters or their setting. Too bad, that. If it was up to me, we'd all go out for ice-cream sundays, but, nooooo, they have to go and stay with JK. Their loss..._

CHAPTER THE THIRD

_Vertigo is a funny thing. I remember hearing once in school that getting yourself really dizzy makes you feel the same way as being high. I suppose if people enjoy feeling like at any second they could fall and throw up all over themselves, then more power to them. I don't think I will be willingly joining their ranks any time soon._

Now that the spinning and crazy color-smell-touch-sound combination that had been making her brain go haywire had ended, Hermione discovered she had regained complete control over her senses, and enough of her mind remained (though who is to say that she hadn't gone mad and just hadn't realized it yet) to resume her inner commentary. _"All at once, the victim will be quite suddenly overcome with a barrage of sensations, applying to not only the sight of the subject of the curse, but also their hearing, feeling, and smelling capabilities. The closest possible description one could manage would be that it is like looking into fireworks while listening to a million different movies all at once, having the contents of a air-freshener factory wafting about, and being both under a great pressure and in a vacuum at the same time." Perhaps this is what it is like to be in the center of a black hole. Well, I guess it builds character, if nothing else. _

As Hermione mentally documented her experience for her future report, she also was testing her surroundings, getting a sense for where she was before she opened her eyes. She could feel her body, and observed the feeling of some sort of hard, level surface beneath her feet. All of her clothing was in place, her Muggle nightwear still managing to conceal her modesty, and her wand was still in the holster on her arm. (She had taken to sleeping with it nowadays. After all, if Dumbledore could be killed by a mere Potions Professor, then no one was safe from attack.) Wherever she had appeared, it smelled faintly musty. There was a distinct lack of air flow, leading her to believe that the place was indoors, with multiple large objects obstructing any air currents. What was most intriguing was the faint sound of rapid breathing that was emanating from somewhere in front of her, at about waist-level. This last observation was so curious that it finally convinced her to open her eyes.

As she did so, Hermione realized what she could not understand previously. She was in a library. Not just any library, but Hogwarts' library. How she knew, she couldn't tell, but she just knew that was where she was. Ever more curious as to her appearance here, of all places (after all, the school had just suffered a massive attack from Voldemort's forces, and was in such a state of disrepair that even the resident hosts had moved out), Hermione looked around more closely, noting how the room looked newer than she had seen it in a long time. _Surely they haven't managed to repair it so quickly! Haven't the ministry people been putting all their efforts into the war against Voldemort? Just how long was I out of it? What is going _on_, here?_

Recalling the unknown situation she was in as the breathing pace of the as yet unstudied person before her changed from a steady, if quickened, pace to a faster, more erratic one, Hermione looked down in their direction. And froze. _No way. That is impossible. This cannot be happening to me._

"Oh, _no_!" the whisper broke from her lips before she could stop herself. Forgetting all her former inquiries as to where she was and what had happened while she was under the influence of the curse, Hermione's mind was taken over with one simple instinct: Flight.

_Impossible...not happening...that was not him...I have to get away...warn the others..._Aaah!

She was no more than perhaps ten feet away from him when she came up against a barrier. It felt like someone was ripping all the skin off her body in one fell swoop. One second, she had been running full tilt, the next second, she had been attacked by ten simultaneous Crucios at once. Even her hair hurt. Her mind, deciding that it had had enough stimulation to last a year, finally ended the excruciating agony by flipping the switch. As she sunk into the sweet relief of nothingness, Hermione had a last denial. _It's not possible. That was not young Severus Snape. Not._


End file.
